Dangerous Engagements
by Sel Del Rey
Summary: Romance, Spies, and Espionage! Agent Rose Mazur, a secret government black ops spy, goes on a mission to hunt and target highly dangerous double agents. Yet betrayed by one of her own, her worst fears come to light in an unexpected deadly, dangerous game. Close to death, can a certain Russian come to her rescue? Will history repeat itself again? AH/OOC
1. Compromise

**Hey, guys. Thank you for waiting this long and I hope you like this one. **

**Much gratitude to my amazing beta, dpower. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own VA.**

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**RPOV**

"College?" I questioned Lissa. She sat on the edge of my bed, strapping on her red, opened toed_ Louis Vuitton_ heels. As she got ready, my mind raced to come up with a logical excuse to why college was not a possibility for me.

This morning, my family and I went to my best friend, Lissa's, high school graduation. As usual, everything went accordingly boring, but I was more than happy for her. She was totally excited to be free from high school hell. I couldn't blame her there, even if I had no clue what it was like. When it was over, we went to my house to get ready for her graduation party Mr. & Mrs. Dragomir planned at their mansion.

"Come on, Rose. You've been off at spy school your whole life. I really think what you do is kind of cool, but please take a break." Walking over to me, she placed her hands on my shoulders, her bright emeralds locking on me with sincerity. She genuinely looked worried about me.

She shook my shoulders lightly to get my attention. "Don't you ever want to have a normal life for once?"

Rolling my eyes at her, I wiggled out of her grasp. I know she meant well, but jeez!

Two years ago, Lissa accidentally overheard my parents and I talking about getting drafted for a mission. When she came forward and confronted me, I had no choice but to reveal the secret that I had been concealing since I was seven.

My best friend already knew too much, and to lie to her, like I did all of those years about my life, would've only resulted in our great friendship falling apart. She was dismayed towards me at first and didn't take it lightly, thinking that I didn't trust her. I told her that was not the case, I just didn't want her to get wrapped up in the dangerous mess I usually got into. Later, with some major convincing on my part, Lis finally came around to it with some mixed feelings towards my occupation. She worried for my life and overall well being, while on the other hand, got excited about my missions more than I did.

"You know a normal life for me is out of question, Lis. I'm a spy, Rose Mazur will never have a normal life." With that, I walked away from her, into my walk-in-closet and closed the door behind me. Hearing her heels clicking towards me, I knew this discussion wasn't over between us.

Groaning with agitation, I rifled through my closet looking for my little leopard print dress. Lately, Lissa had been worried about me. Saying "what you're living is not life at all." She wanted me to experience everything by going to college with her this fall.

My life was...adventurous. It consisted of kicking ass, going undercover, and unfiltered danger.  
Abe and Janine Mazur were my parents and spies as well. They worked for an organization called the COA, Covert Operative Agency. A secret black operation ran by the government located in an underground facility, in the middle of nowhere Maine. When I was six years old, one of the COA head leaders, Alberta Petrov, saw something in me and contacted my parents about it. They consequently agreed to the idea and I immediately started training. From there on, my life was never my own again.

Novices normally started out as early as the age of seven, but Alberta said I was special. Each beginner would undergo an extensive process of training for six years before graduating from new recruits to the field. The younger the brain, the more capacity to absorb the intricate details of the job. My eagerness and attitude, more like stubbornness, gave me a competitive edge. Due to my dedication and aggressiveness for the agency, I graduated early and became one of the youngest COA agents in history to go out in the field.

Now, at the age of eighteen, I'd done more than forty missions around the world. I was good, damn good. To be honest, I loved it, I loved the danger. It gave me an adrenaline rush, keeping my blood pumping, constantly challenging me to reach higher levels of superiority. Even though I was forced to grow up fast, and I had thoughts of what would've been, I wouldn't have changed it for anything.

Lissa bursted through the closet door and through her hands up in agitation. "Gah, Rose, just have fun for once!"

"I do," I laughed. Sometimes, she was such a drama queen. "More than you know, actually." _If only she saw how much fun I have._ "Tell me Lis, what is your idea of 'fun'? Because my idea of fun is kicking some dirt bags ass."

"Just get ready." Exasperated with me, she shook her well brushed, blond head and walked over to the couch in front of her. "I don't, I don't even know what to say to you anymore." She plopped herself down and picked up People magazine from the table next to her.

"Whatever," I said, hiding my contentment that she finally stopped annoying me.

Changing into a flirtatious, below the knee, silk leopard print dress by_ Dolce & Gabbana_, I paired it with my _Sergio Rossi_ heels. Going over to the mirror, I began to apply my makeup.

_She's awfully quiet,_ I thought. That was never a good sign. Turning around, I took a quick glance at her: Still flipping through the same magazine. Knowing she was deep in thought, by the look of it, this was not good for me. I cringed as to what she might've been thinking.

Deciding to go all natural, I applied light, pink eyeshadow that brought out my brown eyes, pairing it with matching lip finish the look, I put my dark brown hair half up and half down.

"What if we compromise?" she startled me from my deep concentration.

Turning around to see her full of giddiness, she could barely sit still. "Compromise, what do you mean?" Suspicion ran through me as I thought about where this was heading. Locking eyes with her, the glow in her emeralds told me that she had been scheming the whole time.

"You go to Berkeley with me... try it out for a semester, and I won't annoy you with any of my personal guidance on how to live your own life." Her lips turned up to a conniving little grin, but a look of hope glistened in her eyes.

_A semester? I can do that._

Lately, I'd been in good graces with the Agency. I hadn't broken any rules and did my job professionally. I was sure they could let me take a break for half a year.

"Really?" Slowly, I walked to her with my arms crossed over my chest. "You won't bother me with this shit?" I asked, waving my hand in the air, referring to this whole conversation.

"Yes," she spoke softly, thinking she won me over. "So you'll think about it?"

"Maybe." With that, I turned around and proceeded to check myself in the mirror.

"Yes!" Lissa screamed with joy.

"I said maybe," I said, turning around.

"What the hell is going on?" My one and only, older brother Christian bursted through the door looking at me, then averting his attention to Lissa.

Lissa blushed crimson and quickly sat back on the couch. She looked at me for support, but I left her to fend for herself. "Um, nothing," she looked anywhere but at him. I faked a gagging sound earning me a scowl from both Christian and Lissa.

He looked at Lissa and walked straight to her. Stretching his hands, he motioned for her to take them. As she did, he pulled her up into a standing position. My big brother made his move, I was purely horrified by the sight. He planted a kiss on my best friends left cheek and whispered something to her. Lissa blushed crimson as she said something back.

I was clearly invisible to them.

"See you two at the party." He walked out the door nonchalantly, as if what he just did never happened. Standing there with my mouth hanging open, I watched as he closed the door behind him.

"He-" Lissa cleared her throat.

"I don't wanna know," I mumbled, holding up my hand to stop her, trying not to rewind the scarring moment I'd just witnessed. "Can we just go?" I motioned to the door.

"K," she breathed out, sounding relieved that I didn't press her for information.

I grabbed my purse and we headed to my car. "Just be careful. From what I've witnessed, he is too much of a player for your interests," I muttered my advice. Although, what I'd seen was not one of my favorite things, I still cared too much for my best friend's well being to look past the situation.

"He'll change," she responded softly.

I shook my head in disbelief as I started the engine of my car.

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	2. Decision

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Gravel crunched under the tires as the car pulled up to the mansion a half an hour later. "Look at all of these people, I don't even know most of them," Lissa whined as we stepped in, observing the guests in the grand room. Covering her face with her hands, she shook her head.

"Must be business associates of your father," I suggested as we strolled into the room.

"He wants me to follow in his footsteps. He said this is what I was meant to do." Lissa's happiness seemed to have disappeared in a matter of seconds, her voice was full of melancholy the instant she mentioned her father's expectations. Eric Dragomir was the CEO of his own successful, multi-billion dollar financial investment corporation called Dragomir International.

"Hun, don't stall. Tell him now, because it's only gonna hurt you later. Andre did it. Not in the best way, but he did it."

"I know, I know," she sighed.

On cue, her dad approached us, dressed to the nines from head to toe. "Hello, Rosemarie. You look positively lovely." He kissed my left cheek.

"Thank you, Mr. Dragomir," I smiled warmly at him, he was a great dad, but oblivious to his children's wishes.

He went over to Lissa, taking her hand and twirling her around like a prima ballerina. "Lissa, look how beautiful you are this evening."

"Thank you, daddy," she giggled.

"Come, Lissa. I want you to meet some of my business partners." Her laughter was cut short. My sympathetic smile was not enough to give her any comfort as she met my eyes in frustration.

"Of course, daddy." She gave him a tight smile as he motioned for her to go with him.

The party was as elegant and sophisticated as people could get. Swanky dressed guests _mingled _with each other, soft music of the harp played in the background, fancy shrimp hors d'œuvres, beluga caviar and expensive champagne were served by waiters all around. I knew Lissa didn't like this: to always be shamelessly flaunted by her parents whenever they get the opportunity. She was their one and only beautiful daughter, and they made a true spectacle out of her. It was hard for her to speak up, and she never did anything about it.

"Having fun?" a husky voice asked behind my back.

"Andre!" I said in surprise with a huge smile on my face. He closed the distance between us and practically groped me. I pushed him back, lightly punching his chest. "Asshole!"

"Can't help it." He looked me up and down. "You look sinful," he purred.

I rolled my eyes at his pervertedness. "Where have you been?" I squealed. Andre was Lissa's older brother. Last time I heard, he and his dad had a huge fight over his future, resulting in him dropping out of high school to roam around the world.

"You know...all over." A waiter came by and Andre grabbed two glasses of _Perrier-Jouet _champagne. He handed one to me and I took a long swig of the fruity flavored drink. "Thirsty much?" He chuckled in an amusement.

"This event is way too boring; it seriously needs a little life of the party." I stated my excuse with a flirty little wink.

"Come on, I know where we could have a little fun. We'll be back before Lissa even notices you're gone." Andre's eyes shaded with lust and a seductive, cocky smirk graced his handsome face as he tugged my hand to follow him.

Without thinking twice, I drained my drink and followed him. He took both of our glasses and set it on a table. As we exited the room, unfortunately, I caught mother's eyes. She looked at me with accusation and suspicion... that '_I-know-what-you're-up-to' _kind of way. Not really giving a flying fuck what she thought, I dragged Andre by the hand out of the grand room with a smirk on my lips.

What Andre and I were up to...was not getting any farther than hot make out sessions and a little friendly groping. Just because I was hot as sin, didn't mean I was a slut. I still liked to keep my virginity, but I was entitled to have some fun occasionally.

We passed a long corridor with dozens of doors. Andre opened the last one at the end of the long hallway and pushed me in first. As soon as the door closed, the faint glow of moonlight shined through the large bay window. Fast as lightning, I felt the warmth of his body pressing me against the wall and he attacked me with his lips. Frantically, I kissed him back tugging at his silky blonde strands.

Short ragged breathing and smacking lips echoed throughout the room. He picked me up and settled me down on a couch. Groping my ass, he nipped and bit my neck "Don't leave a hickey," I warned.

He groaned in response and smashed his lips back to mine. Positioning himself between my thighs, he hoisted my legs over his hips. "Do you know how fucking sexy you are?" he growled in between kisses. "I just want to fuck you until you're screaming out my name." He trusted his hips to prove his point.

I moaned and bit his lip hard. In response, he growled and started dry humping me, but it didn't feel right, at least not what I was expecting. My lust for him earlier was suddenly gone, replaced by disgust in myself. What was I doing? Especially with Lissa's brother, this was not that much different than seeing her with my brother. Andre was a sexy guy, but truthfully, I didn't have a sexual attraction towards my best friend's sibling.

"Wait, s-stop," I stuttered as he started to sneak his hands under my dress. "Stop!" Pushing him with great force, I knocked him back onto the couch. "I'm sorry!" Gasping and scooting backwards, I got as much distance as I could.

"W-what's wrong, Rose?" Concern and a little bit of annoyance etched his forehead.

"Nothing." Shaking my head stiffly, realizing all I wanted was to get the hell out of there. I stood to straighten out myself. "I'm sorry Andre, this thing with you and me, it just feels wrong...plus, the last thing I want to do is go behind Lissa's back, again."

"Then we'll tell her we're together." He slowly walked up to me in a seductive manner reaching out to take my hands.

"But we're not together...and I'll tell her about this later on," I gestured with my hands, making sure he didn't touch me.

"We can be," he encouraged, closing the distance between us.

"No we can't… Sorry, but I don't see you that way." I pushed him away with irritation. With my job, a relationship with anyone was out of question; it was too dangerous for him, as well as me. If I were romantically involved with someone, fear for their safety would always keep me on edge. Plus, Andre wasn't my type. We were just messing around, nothing else.

"Let's just forget this ever happened." Ignoring his glare, I got my mini mirror out of my clutch to double check my appearance. Once everything was back in place, I walked toward the door, leaving him gaping at me in stunned anger.

"We can't let this happen anymore." I said exiting and closing the door behind me, heading back to the grand room.

Arriving at the party, I slipped into the back and stood next to my mother as Lissa's dad began to make a toast in recognition to Lissa. "Hello everyone, thank you for coming to this auspicious occasion in honor of my beautiful daughter, Lissa's, graduation..." As he went on about his fondness of Lissa, my mother looked me over, quirking up her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Where have you been?" she whispered in a displeased tone.

"You know where," I responded nonchalantly. The reaction she gave me was exactly the one I'd hoped for, a smirk twitched on my lips as I tried to hide my satisfaction.

My parents and I didn't have a very warm and fuzzy relationship. Abe, my father, was constantly away on missions, never home. When I was six and Christian was nine, my mother resumed working for the COA.

I began my training while Christian attended boarding school. Even though we were off doing our things, we still communicated whenever we could. As for the rest of the family...the whole concept of not seeing each other for months created huge gaps in any bond we may have ever had, they were just strangers to me. We hardly sat down and talked as a family or showed any interest in each other's activities. It wasn't until last year that we started to communicate at all, but still, we hardly knew anything about each other personally.

"Rosemarie, you know full well not to mess around with boys. The last thing you need is distraction. Your job comes first," she rasped, looking straight ahead, sporting a perfect façade on her face, disguising her annoyance with me.

"You don't even have the slightest clue of what I fucking need, mother," I greeted my teeth as frustration and anger surged through me.

_She knows NOTHING of the effort I put into my work. And she certainly doesn't give a damn about my virtue! _

"Now is not the time or place to argue, Rosemarie. We'll talk more later!" she commanded as she drank up her remaining champagne.

Groaning with agitation as I stood next to her, I felt like I was a cartoon character, if other guests looked at me now, they would had seen steam coming out my ears. Impatiently I waited, listening to Mr. Dragomir finish his long-winded speech. All I wanted to do was blow this popsicle stand. As soon as he ended his speech, he took his wife's hand, both walking towards us.

"Hello, Rhea, Eric." Janine kissed both of their cheeks. "Congratulations," she smiled.

"Awe, we are so proud of our Lissa," Rhea gloated as she looked at Eric. She gave me a warm, motherly hug, overwhelming me with her sweet scented perfume. Pulling away, she caressed my shoulders. "Rose, you look beautiful. I haven't seen you in month." She gestured her hands to me.

"Thank you. I was away for an...internship," I said, putting my anger in the back of my mind.

"Well, Abe and Janine must be very proud of you," said Eric, smiling at my mother.

"More than anything," she said, lamely patting my back. It was such a stiff, fake gesture; I couldn't believe they didn't see right through the charade.

_Of Course she is. _I literally felt myself do a mental eye roll. Seconds later, just what I needed, my illustrious father, Abe, walked in and joined in the conversation.

As the four of them chatted incessantly about uninteresting, adult nonsense, I tuned them completely out and started to fantasize of the life I could've had. Maybe a normal life…where I didn't have life altering decisions and responsibilities; where I would have attended high school and did normal teenage stuff.

_Maybe Berkeley was a good idea! _With renewed hope, I began plotting my argument.

"Rose, are you okay?" Lissa shook my arm gently, bringing me back to reality.

"Uh, yeah," I smiled in reassurance. "When did you get here? Never mind," I shook my head. "We should tell our parents about our plan." I whispered.

Amazed with my sudden decision, she fumbled with words, "Really? O-of course," she barely whispered with a happy silent squeal as our parents continued with their drone conversations. "How do we tell them?"

"Just follow my lead." I motioned with a slight cock of my head and a wink.

"You know, I'm really going to miss Lis when she goes to college," I confessed to them, interrupting their endless boring discussion.

"Oh, honey, I'm very sure both of you two will find ways to see each other." Rhea reassured us both.

"Actually, we have a great idea." Lissa fixed her blonde hair, a sign of nervousness. I was the one who should've been nervous. After all, I was the one who would be facing the third degree with my unhappy parents about my decision. "Rose an-"

"I'm going to Berkeley with her," I blurted out interrupting Lissa.

All eight eyes turned on us. Lissa's parents in awe as my parents shot death glares at me.

"What!" my mother growled through gritted teeth.

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	3. Operation Target Dashkov

**Prayers to the families, children, as well as the community of the tragic Connecticut shooting. **

**Thanks to my amazing beta, dpower.**

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Over two long weeks had passed since my parents found out about my sudden decision to go to college. Needless to say, Janine has not taken it lightly, while Abe was slightly hesitant about it.

**Flashback**

_My mother flung opened the solid oak door that lead to the mansion's entry, slamming it forcefully as we stepped in, causing __the Picasso painting on the wall to shake. Cringing from the loud reverberating sound, I stood there waiting for her wrath._

_"Living room, now!" she commanded in her bossy voice as she headed past us._

_Looking at dad's stern face told me it wasn't an option. Having no choice but to do as she said, I involuntarily followed both of them to the living room. The time had come for me to face the music of my announcement and it wasn't going to be pleasant._

_Abe and I sat across from each other while she paced around with the tension of silence clouding the room. The only present sound was her heavy breathing and the clicking of her heels. We waited for her to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth, except some incoherent grumbling._

_Janine Mazur was a fiery redhead, with normally pale skin and freckles, but looking at her now, with bright red cheeks you could almost see the flaming redhead about to explode like a mini Scottish bomb, she was beyond raged. I actually found it rather comical, but decided it wiser not to act upon it. Instead, I had to suffer in silence along with my father._

_Moments that felt like hours painfully ticked by; surrounded in the thick stifling dead air, the tension of silence was too much for me to endure... so after several long minutes, with a deep intake of breath, I opened my mouth to end it. But lo and behold, to my utter astonishment, in that moment she finally decided to speak._

_"Do you have any idea how dangerous it is for you to go off gallivanting around? For not only you, but also the people associated with you! That environment is completely unpredictable!" Pacing the floor, she stopped and faced me, expecting an acceptable answer. The look she projected said that she had made, what she considered to be the best possible point and nothing I could say was ever going to better it._

_She'd only spoken a few words, but I couldn't handle her meaningless crap. I wasn't the type of person that just rolled over and lay down like a good dog. Fighting for what I believe, and the strength of my convictions, was just a few of the things that made me an awesome fucking COA agent._

_"Considering what I do for a living and how well I handle things...you both give me little credit and faith over my decisions..." I said flatly, when I realized no answer I gave her would ever be good enough, but in no way was I going to give up now._

_"I know it's dangerous, but I can take care of myself! It's not like I haven't been doing just that for most of my life! I'm going to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to cool down for a while, and be a normal teenage girl." Standing up to show her that I wasn't backing down, I squared my shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes._

_"It's my shot to experience something that I was never...__**ever **__given the chance to have. Plus, it's only for a semester; you act like I'm sacrificing everything __**you've**__ worked for by simply going to college." I glared at both of my so-called parents. "Ya know, most parents would be thrilled to have their teenager actually go __**to **__college._

_"Besides, I have been making my own decisions and choosing what's right for me since I was little, and after all this time... now that I'm eighteen, you think you can come in and take that right away from me? I don't think so!" I turned away and began to head to my bedroom when the statement she said stopped me in my tracks._

_"You are __**not **__going! I do not want to risk anything regarding this family." She sneered behind me._

_I spun around, furious at her words._

_How dared she!_

_"Don't say 'regarding this family!' as if it means something to you!" I spat her words. "Since when did we become your concern?! If you want to feel concerned about something, look in the damn mirror! You two are far off stable... and Christian and I are on our own." _

_She opened her mouth ready to jump down my throat, but I raised my hand to stop her next comment._

_"Just because I finally decided to live my fucking life for a change, doesn't mean this so called 'family' is going to disintegrate. All of us are smart enough to take care of ourselves." Furious at her implication that I was going to cause damage to this family, I growled aloud._

_"As I said...I am capable of taking care of myself. I'm pretty sure I've done it over the past years!" my voice blared with every word I spoke, because I was not done giving them a piece of my mind. "So please, for the love of God, don't act like you know what's best for me! I'm eighteen. That means you no longer make decisions for me!" I yelled pushing aside the little tolerance I had left for her._

_"Don't you ta-"_

_"Both of you, enough!" Abe roared with a force that echoed through the spacious room. "Rose, making a significant decision like that, without consulting with us was a foolish thing to do. If you go down, so do we. We have enemies all over, ready to strike." _

_I couldn't believe my ears he was actually taking her side! Opening my mouth to protest he raised his hand to stop me and continued. _

_"But even if it is not what Janie and I want for you, you are grown; therefore, this is your own decision." Abe shot a stern look over to mom since she was about to squawk._

_"So, think it over really carefully, if this is what you absolutely want. If you decide to go for it, we won't stop you." A clear tone of finality rang in his voice as he directed his words towards mom._

_"Abe, what you're saying to her is erroneous! It will eventually backfire!" My mother spat looking at him as if he had grown a second head._

_"Dad, I understand what you're saying, but I've already made my decision, regardless of what both of you think. When I go back to work two weeks from Monday for a mission, I will talk to Alberta and Ellen about it to see what they say," I heard both sigh as I headed to my bedroom._

**End of Flashback**

Sitting in the office of Alberta Petrov at the COA, I waited for her and my mentor, Ellen, to show up. Moments later, Alberta and Ellen walked in, dressed in formal business attires. They both looked stressed over something: It was either over a mission gone wrong or over agent loses. Lately, more spies had been dying during missions, or from surprise attacks while off duty.

"Is everything ok_?" _I asked as both hugged me quickly. We had known each other over the years that I were practically informal with both of them, especially Alberta, she always managed to see the good in me. Alberta took a seat on her chair, opposite where Ellen and I sat.

"No..." Ellen said bluntly. "You and other agents will be informed of the unfortunate situation at the round table." Looking extremely preoccupied, I could hear the distress in her normally professional voice.

"But first, what's going on with you?" Petrov knew me well; I don't call a meeting for frivolous reasons. She leaned forward in interest resting her arms and elbows on the desk. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine…" Nervously, I glanced up and prepared for the announcement. "I actually came here to tell you two that...I, um, want to go to college." I said in a rush, looking back and forth between the women. Petrov sat back in her seat as Kirova quirked her eyebrows. By the look on their faces, I knew it would take a lot to convince them to go along with my plan.

"What do you mean college? You don't need that type of education since you fundamentally have been taught beyond college level education," Ellen said as confusion etched her face at my announcement.

Alberta nodded her head in agreement of Ellen's statement. "She's right, Rose, going to college will be just a waste of your time. In addition, it's imperative that we don't lose anymore agents." Alberta remarked as she tucked a loose strand of her perfect side bangs, trying to think through my statement.

"It would not just be a waste of my time." I replied, shifting in my seat, kind of perturbed by their attitude. "It's not about leaving the COA, that's not my plan, I assure you."

Why they all thought I was going to throw away everything I had worked so hard for, I just didn't know. Maybe they really didn't know me as well as I thought.

Frustration, flowed through me, _how do I explain? _"I just want a break from all this and you won't lose me. I'll do minor missions when I can, and resume to full time after a semester or so."

"What university are you wanting to attend?" Ellen asked quirking her eyebrows.

"Berkeley." Wanting the conversation to be over and done, I answered immediately, hoping it would save me a whole lot of breaths. Exhaustion seemed to overwhelm me at that moment and I was still aggravated by the dispute with my parents, which happened two weeks ago. I just couldn't take more disapproval from anyone. Enough people had influences in my overall life decisions, it was their turn to listen to me and accept what I chose.

"I'm not a hundred percent onboard with your decision, but I guess...I'm fine with it…as long as you come back." Rather surprised by my mentor's supportiveness, truthfully, I kept on holding my breath, thinking there was more to what she was saying, a catch.

When I finally realized she was set, I let out the breath I had been holding. Usually, it took a lot of convincing to get her to go along with whatever I planned to do with my life, especially things outside of my comfort zone, because she and especially COA had a say in my life. My guess was she saw the weariness in my posture, and decided to let this one go. She always told me to pick my battles. Apparently, she was not going to battle me on this one any further. "But before you go to college, we need to insert a tracking device inside you."

"I'm going to get chipped? Is that necessary?" I inquired as a queasy feeling surged through my body, raising flashes of goosebumps on my exposed skin. It was unsettling to think of being tracked... every moment... every move I made. Going to Berkeley was a plan to let myself experience freedom without the COA lurking over me, but tracking made me feel like it was impossible for me to be independent because they would always lurk over me.

A look of sympathy crossed her face, but Ellen was a "by the book" handler.  
"Yes. It's this new technique the officials came up with to ensure better safety of our spies when undercover." Kirova must have sensed my sudden distress, over the statement, because she gave me a concerned look. "You must always remember you are unprotected outside of our wards."

Alberta gave me a no-nonsense look, but clearly was worried about the agent's safety. "Rose, we know it's not a favorable option, but we are losing countless agents. They are targeted whenever they leave the premises of the COA. If anything happens to you..."

She was normally a very controlled person, but with that statement, her voice cracked slightly and I could see true emotion in her eyes. Taking a deep breath and reining in the familiar, display of affection, she continued her explanation. "We will easily know your location, sending immediate help."

I knew Alberta was doing it for the intention for my well being. I never doubted her with decisions she made regarding with my life, she would never harm me. A little uncomfortable, I decided to go along with it, trusting her motive. "Where exactly in my body are you going to implant the tracking device?" I asked with precaution, hoping it was not anywhere near my head. I'd heard of agencies, in other countries specifically, inserting trackers deep in their agent's skulls so if the agents decided they didn't want it anymore, it would be tricky to get out without inflicting some serious brain damage.

Thinking about it, a cold shiver ran down my spine at the thought of some creepy Dr. Frankenstein coming at my head with a drill.

"In your arm," Albert said in an amusement. She seriously seemed to be enjoying watching me squirm. "Why don't we just do it now, since you don't have time to come back here after your mission." That was a statement rather than a request, it looked like I didn't have much say in the matter as she began to make a phone call to have the device brought up to her office.

"Alright Rose...we'll send in filtered information to the university about you and get you enrolled. Be advised that the COA will contact you whenever you're needed." Alberta opened one of her drawers to fish out a full stack of papers. "But first, you'll need to sign these papers; it's the COA's Order of Suspension, and Notice of Rights information. You are to abide by all agency policies whether you are here or in an educational facility."

"Sure," I sighed, rolling my eyes as she handed the papers and a pen to me. I began to read and sign page by page.

As I was signing page nineteen out of forty-eight, a middle-aged man and woman-who by the way caked in unappealing layers of makeup on her aging face-walked into the office uniformly dressed in lab coats, carrying along two silver briefcases.

Even though it was rude, I couldn't help but stare at her. It wasn't my fault she didn't know how to put on makeup. Ellen cleared her throat jolting me from my...observation.

"Ah, there it is." Alberta said, motioning to the briefcases as they put them down on her desk. I stifled a giggle as I noticed Ellen looking away and Alberta widening her eyes briefly at the woman's choice of...facial mask.

They opened both of the briefcases simultaneously, revealing a big ass gun like device with its pieces. They adjoined the device in no time without making any communication with us. feeling my own tension stifle the air around me.

"Please lift your right arm, Ms. Mazur," The Doctor Ratchet wannabe instructed. I did as she said. Without further ado, her cold bony, fingers death-gripped me as she wrapped around my poor arm, sanitizing a little portion of it. Quickly, without warning, she shot the little microchip into my arm.

"Oww, damn!" I grunted, not expecting the sudden sting that sharply increased.

"You're done," the woman said with a bit of a sick twisted smirk playing at her lips as she cleaned up the little blood that oozed out, then wrapping it in a bandage. I guessed she knew I was inwardly laughing at her. Oh well.

"Thank you, Doctor Lazar, Doctor Tarus," Alberta nodded towards them as they efficiently packed the gun back into its container. They nodded back and hastily exited the office.

_Nice! Can I get a little sympathy here? _Forgetting the clown that was just in the room earlier, I glared at both of them.

"Happy now? Just so you know, I want it out right after I get back from Berkeley." I gritted my teeth as I fought through the pain, trying to finish signing the papers.

"We're only doing this for your protection, Rose." My mentor sighed as she shook her head in disapproval. "Besides Rose, I hate to break it to you, but its the new permanent company policy for all agents."

"Come to the second floor, room eight when you're done signing your life away, you'll receive your final mission." Alberta said motioning to the mound of papers with a partial smile on her lips as both got up and headed to their own ways.

"Uh-yeah," I mused.

After I finished signing the endless contract, I headed to the conference room. I arrived as five agents, four of them I had never met before, began accumulating around the conference table. Shortly after, Alberta and a few other officials of the COA walked in, taking their reserved seats at the front of the room.

I took my assigned seat next to an agent named Reed Lazar. Lazar was a _man _in his mid-twenties who was highly favored by the officials. He was someone I'd worked with once on a mission, when I was sixteen. During the operation, everything went smooth and he had earned some of my respect-which was a hard thing for anyone to gain-until he began making...moves to seduce me.

At the time, I had tried to ignore his inappropriate actions, until he cornered me in a room of the loft that we, as well as two co-agents, were staying in, and obnoxiously declared his strong attraction towards me. He professed how he couldn't stay away from me any longer after "observing" me. Expressing how... no matter what it took, he would do anything just to be with me. I swear to God the memory still made my skin crawl.

The way he declared his love for me was pure stalkerish...bordering on extreme obsession-which coming from a respected spy, was shocking. I was young and new to the field, but I'd say they missed something on his psych evaluation! It was unsettling...disturbing, given that I had never met him before the mission and he was too old for me, yet he was on me like white on rice.

Even though I was completely bewildered that a person like him, a well renowned agent, could behave like that. Politely-which was out my nature-I told him that the feeling was not _mutual_.

Unfortunately, he did not take it like an upstanding individual. So instead, he underhandedly contacted the COA, informing them I was not doing my job satisfactorily. Unbelievably, without further questions, the officials pulled me from the assignment and chose to suspend me for five months from any further missions.

What was even worse was my mentor and my parents believed _him _over me, which made me lose a whole lot of respect for them, but I let it pass, thinking it was no use trying to persuade them.

Alberta would've resolved the problem, but she was out of country at that moment. She was only notified when she came back after my suspension was over. She knew me, that I was dedicated to my job, she was my biggest supporter. Alberta demanded the other officials to investigate him as well but I told her to let it go. Saying the suspension gave me time to enjoy myself. After that she let it pass, because even though I was a COA agent, she wanted me to be a teenager as well.

I tried to confront him without anyone noticing, but I didn't want to see his face ever again and plus from what he said, I was certain that he knew intimate things about me, more than he should, making me more cautious of what would happened next.

Fortunately, he never contacted me after the mission. Thank god. I hoped he was over his _little _obsession.

I moved my chair as far away from him as the round table let me-which was not very far-I tried to look bold, forcing the uneasy feeling that surged through my body lessen, because even though Rose Mazur had weaknesses, _he _was certainly not going to be one of them.

Straightening myself out, I tucked a strand of my long, chocolate brown hair behind both of my ears. It was then that I felt a piercing stare from the left side of my cheeks. Turning, out of curiosity, I met _his _blank, grey eyes.

The man just gave me the creeps! For my own benefit, I shot him a knowing glare-inherited from my mother-imagining it would scorch his eyes out as I plastered a devilish Rose Mazur smile on my face. He didn't respond, instead he averted his eyes. A real _satisfactory _smirk twitched at my lips.

Very soon, his karma was going to come back to bite him in the ass.

"Shall we get started... agents, please turn on your tablets," Official John Mastrano said in a solemn tone, pulling me from my thoughts. We all followed his lead as the lights in the room dimmed down. Pictures of three notorious men, one of them very familiar to me, projected on the wall, as well as on our tablets. "These men should be familiar to most of you."

Taking a good look at the pictures, I realized one of them was Victor Dashkov, a former official of the COA. As a trainee, he had attended a few of my trainings to observe me, as expected to do so by the officials. I wondered what great thing he and the other men had done to be on the Most Wanted list of the COA.

As Mastrano talked, slides of the men in different settings kept rolling, capturing photos and vague videos of them, along with several of Dashkov's entourage. "As you may know, Victor Dashkov was one of the agencies officials. However, he used and abused the respected position. A dispute between the officials and him on how the COA should be run apparently pushed him over the edge, becoming an adversary of the COA."

"Allegedly, as double agent, he created a rogue organization, operating against the COA, and gathering, as well as manipulating the minds of over thirty men and women of different agencies around the world, turning them into his recruits. Dashkov had a top-secret clearance... giving him access to most of the COA's pertinent intelligence. We did not know of his treason until a few months back, when he was caught on video, trying to turn one of the officials."

"We had set up a scheme to capture him quietly... by surprise, but two unidentified double agents of his, working on the inside of the COA premises notified him. Allowing him and both of his insiders, ex-agents Stan Alto and his brother, Robert Doru, to escape and flee the country, taking along the COA's cryptograph. Some of you may not be aware that the cryptograph is a device that has access to any COA system; that will destroy this agency and the identities of its agents if put into the wrong hands."

"We do not know his intentions regarding the information the cryptograph can give him, but we located him, through a satellite three weeks ago, in a warehouse in Russia."

"Your mission, agents... target and bring Victor Dashkov in, alive. He is the only one who knows where the cryptograph is." He said, as the last zoomed in slide of a warehouse in an abandoned neighborhood in Moscow appeared.

The lights turned back up while the screen on the wall faded.

"Unfortunately, the Russian agency, MOSD, is pursuing Dashkov as well, therefore they were notified of this mission. Considering the mission will be on their soil, we have no choice but to allow them to participate. However, our agents have a higher capture rate...so use that as encouragement and take the lead. We have reached an agreement with the Russians; they will monitor as well as aid in extreme situations." All six of us took in everything, comprehending how serious the situation of the mission was, this was going to be a true test of our skills as agents.

"Good luck and get going." His last words lingered as we exited the conference room. Without a word the six of us headed into the weaponry room, where everything we needed for the mission awaited for us.

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**Review for Dimitri because I know you are just dying for him to appear sooner.**


	4. Meet and Greet

**So I do realize that I haven't been the best person at keeping my words but don't think I've neglected this story. I'm as much focused on progressing this story as I was before and I hope that each and everyone of you readers are with me on it. As always, thanks to my beta, dpower. **

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**RPOV**

Ten hours later, we arrived in Moscow in a COA private jet. The mission hadn't even started yet, but due to the extensive flight, I was physically exhausted. During the flight my co-agents an I got to know each other, offering up information about ourselves to create a better working atmosphere when we go out into the field.

From the looks of it, Sonya Karp and Mikhail Tanner were a couple, madly in love with each other. They were constantly away on missions around the world. So to make things easier for their relationships, they started doing missions together as often as they could, making it possible to see each other, even though it was strictly professional.

They told me they met each other while Sonya was on a mission to rescue Mikhail and his men, who had been captured by the Ukrainian army while out in the field. They were imprisoned for three years in a top notch, underground prison. Their relationship was a slow burn at first, due to Mikhail's condition from his imprisonment. She waited patiently; staying by his side as he went through extensive therapy to get passed the physical and emotional tortures he had suffered there. The way they talked about each other was almost affectionate enough to rub off on me.

I imagined that kind of relationship or connection to another person to be treacherous. To work alongside a lover during hazardous missions; to always watch over him, making sure he wasn't harmed in anyway. It would've been very distracting from the main focus. One of the reasons I didn't want anything to do with any type of relationships, especially with another agent.

James Wilket was one of those fixated, poker faced, spies who was difficult to read, that couldn't be figured out just by looking. Once we started a conversation as a group though, he was completely charismatic. His suave, yet collective, characteristics made him a real charmer.

Reed was casual, charming them with his smooth talk, which I found to be repulsive. His close proximity to me made the whole plane ride unsettling, but I wasn't letting him or the others see how much he affected me. Every time he opened his mouth, I tried my best not to gag; as well as, not display it to the group the negative vibe I projected towards the jack ass. So instead, I put on a fake smile, as if I was interested in his conversation rather than scratching his eyes out.

Out of the other agents, Eddie Castile was a reserved, friendly guy, but enjoyable. Once I got the gist of his personality, I was very comfortable with him. He was nineteen years old, about six foot tall, attractive, with brown eyes, well defined jaw and stylish hair that hung in a tousled sort of mess, but very becoming on him.

As we exited the private jet, eight, high level agents, all dressed in black with deadpan faces, awaited us at the bottom of the jet stairs, with sleek black tinted window SUV's.

A tall, blonde man in his late forties diverted from his group of men and proceed to where the six of us were standing. "Greetings, agents, my name is Agent Badica, one of the officials of the Moscow Operative's Spy Division (MOSD), and also your guide. I will provide you with your tasks." He said in his thick Russian accented tongue as he firmly shook our hands. replying his greeting, we said our formal hello's, introducing ourselves to him.

"Welcome to Russia. I must say, I am most definitely looking forward to this mission." In Russian, he instructed his seven agents to get the cars started as he motioned for us to follow him to the SUV's. "The leader of the MOSD team, Agent Dimitri Belikov, and a few others are closely monitoring the movements of Victor and his men from a vacant warehouse near Victor's location, for better coverage."

"Where exactly are we headed, official Badica?" Sonya asked from behind Badica as she walked alongside her fiance.

"We will accompany your party to where you all will be staying. We would've went to MOSD headquarters, but surveillance footage of Victor and his men, from the last few hours has indicated he is speeding up his process." He walked at a steady clipping pace, straight ahead toward the vehicles.

"What's the most recent intel update?" I asked as I walked alongside him. Unfortunately, Victors pace controlled how this mission was going to run, lasting anywhere between days or months. I had hoped it would only last days, so I could get back to the normal life I would soon start.

"Well Ms Mazur, we believe... he might be apprised of our mission." He shook his head in disappointment as to how this mission had began. Already, I could tell the efficiency of the assignment has been compromised.

"What indication brought you to the conclusion?" Eddie had caught up with Badica and was now very interested in the current update.

"In these last few days, surveillance has intercepted small anonymous messages he and his men received, informing them of COA and MOSD's movements. Plans to mobilize his men and relocate in the next five to twelve days have been arranged. Unfortunately, he has insiders tipping him off, and we do not know how many traitors are in our midst or how they are getting the pertinent information; hence every piece of intel here is sealed within our people and agency. Right now its a need-to-know basis.

"As I said, our time is up, catching the double agents is imperative. We must be many steps ahead in everything to expose the предатель... traitors," he spat the word in Russian as if it disgusted him to the core, but managed to calm himself down like the professional he is, and motioned for all of us to get into the awaiting cars.

"Lets begin, agents." Eddie, Badica and I got in one car as the other three got in another. Half of the cars led us to our destination while the rest of them followed behind for security measures.

【DE】

Two hours later, the cars stopped on the loose gravel outside a rural house with several barred windows. It looked ordinary on the outside, typical for any other Russian architectured houses.

We all stepped out of the cars and Badica led us to the house. Using multiple, special, state of the art keys and codes, he gained access to the place and took us on a guided tour of the first floor. The main area was divided into two spacious rooms. High tech monitors were wall to wall in a large room encased by glass.

Inside the glass room, held another hidden room, which was full of weapons and other assets specifically designated for this mission, all provided by the COA and MOSD. A long hallway led to an open concept kitchen and a living room.

"Go on upstairs and freshen up, we'll all meet in the glass room in an hour." Badica said while the other agent passed by us with our belongings in their hands, taking them upstairs to our room.

Upstairs, I spotted my two suitcases next to one of the six rooms and headed for them. As I picked one up and opened the door to head inside, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reed stepping into the other room next to mine.

"Hell no!" I clenched my teeth, dropping the bag that was in my hand where it was once before. Revulsion lashed through me with the thought of a wall separating me from my creeper. Reed might've played it off as a cooperative, perfect agent through the past days, but he was anything but that.

"Is everything okay?" A familiar voice asked behind me. I turned around and leaned on the door behind me.

I planted a false smile on my lips as I brushed through my hair with my left hand. "Yeah, Eddie. Just..." I waved my hand in the air. "Hey, um, can you help me move my bags to the room next to yours, this room is more spacious for the couples, they need it more than I do." _And it's as far as I can be from Reed._

"Sure." He picked up both of my bag as if they weighed nothing and followed me as I led him to the opposite direction, far from Reed.

"Thanks." I exhaled in pure exhaustion as we entered the room, closing the door behind us. Reed's presence was really stressing me out.

Nodding his head, he placed my luggage on the bed and sat next to them. "I was thinking..."

"Yeah...and..." I attempted to raise my eyebrows, urging him to continue.

"...About the double agents," he lowered his voice and leaned forward looking me square in the eyes, "No one here is aware of this mission other than the six of us and the MOSD team here..." He trailed off in a hushed tone.

"So you think the mole is one of us?" I asked more in amusement as I got out a wife beater and sweat pants.

He nodded briefly. "Yes, official Badaca said all information about this mission is only given to those agents involved. And don't you think if Victor is constantly getting updated, with security this tight, that he has someone inside, again... like his brother and Alto before."

He made sense but still, Badaca also said "the agency", so it could've been people behind the scenes of this mission, agents that were inside MOSD or COA that were closely keeping an eye on this mission, just like last time, his brother Robert, and Stan Alto did in COA.

"I get what you're saying, Eddie, but it could also be agents who are not active, it could as well be ones who monitor us back at COA or here at MOSD."

He shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think Victor would make the same mistake as before. If he wants full coverage, then he's going to get it by placing his recruits in the middle of the action." He got up and walked to the door. Twisting the door handle, he turned around to warn me.

"Think about it, Rose, and let's keep this between us, I still believe the mole is with us and if we let this out, we might be screwed."

"Why tell me though?" I slowly walked towards where he was standing. Stopping at a comfortable distance, intending to mean no harm. "I mean...I could be that recruit..." I trailed off with a mischievous smirk.

He gave me a boyish grin, entertained by my playfulness. "Simple," he said, scratching his growing scruff. "You're not the type who would throw away all that you've gained in a short amount of time."

I exhaled a laugh at his reply, it made me like him even more. "Why don't we stick together and see how things turn out?" I suggested, turning back to my serious mode.

He nodded his head in agreement. "Great." Opening the door he stepped out and then swiftly closed it behind him.

I took a long, much needed shower until I heard a banging against the bathroom door from Sonya, warning me that everyone was waiting for me downstairs. At her words, I hastily got dressed and headed to the glass room.

Once I arrived, the entire team got into task mode, figuring out plans and solutions as to how this was going to work. Rest was the last thing on our minds as we kept an eye on Victor and the organization through the monitors on the wall. With the help of a few additional micro camcorders planted throughout the warehouse by the MOSD team earlier this week. We were able to see almost everything that Victor and his men spent their time doing.

Over the course of seven days, we set up our plan; when, where, and how we were going to capture Victor and his recruits, as well as, getting the cryptograph back, safely.

Badica had unwillingly informed us on the things Victor also stole from MOSD. If we were going to help each other out, we at least had to find out what we were going after. Victor had taken copies of MOSD missile blueprints of a highly dangerous patented bomb.

This weapon he had access to would've wiped out large portions of a population, destroy anything it contacted, immediately reducing everything into piles of rubble and ash. Which Victor had possessed this weapon of mass destruction at the beginning of his rebellious frenzy, when his actions were not known and when he was well trusted to gain access to anything.

Surveillance has not been able to ascertain what he planned to do with the weapons. That was a mystery we were trying desperately to solve. But that only could happen if we were under the same roof with him.

Sonya, Mikhail, James, and Badica visited the MOSD's team stakeout twice during mandatory meetings, fearing regular visits could result in getting noticed since their location was close to the warehouse, to discuss further plans, While Reed, Eddie and I printed blueprints of Victor's warehouse and memorized the place through what we'd gathered on the monitors. Luckily, we also had information the other team had told us, since they had actually been inside the building earlier.

Eddie and I stuck together which was easy since we never went out of the house, but still, we found no clues as to who the double agent was, but we still kept an eye out. It seemed everyone had moments that were apprehensive. Nothing ever overly obvious, just things that made us wonder if one of them could be undermining the whole mission.

They all had their suspicious moments that Eddie and I had encountered during the week. But it wasn't enough to suspect any one. As spies, we all kept things from each other that we cared not to share. However, in this case it wasn't just personal things we kept private. Each of us were very competitive. Moving up in the ranks meant proving your worth to the COA. Therefore each of us hoped to find that one thing that will break this case wide open, and a little extra gratitude from the agency didn't hurt.

At the brink of the fifth day, the pattern of what we were doing broke. The micro camcorders began to scramble one by one in the most important locations of the warehouse, leaving us blind to what was going on in certain areas. We immediately received messages from the other team giving us the go ahead to move in on Victor, that he had received multiple tips from the mole.

That was when I was positive the mole was among us, but Eddie and I didn't have much time to act upon it and dig in deep enough. We had shifted into high gear, the unit was in full action. Taking the time to isolate the mole was not an option anymore. Our time was up, and had we tried to expose the mole, it would have delayed the mission causing serious problems for both of us. I don't even want to consider the repercussions.

Before dawn, we all met up in the glass room, dress in our standard spy gears, but it was necessary to equip ourselves with weapon's. This was going to be a tough mission. Badica gave us his final direction.

"Listen up, agents, you will be divided into pairs, Eddie with Sonya, James you're with Mikhail and Rose with Reed..." He continued talking, but after he had said who my partner was I couldn't comprehend, or even tune into what he was saying. I tried to wrap my mind around being paired with Reed! Of all the people, dear Lord, why did it have to be him.

Frustration, disbelief, disgust...every single, negative emotions were flooding through me. _No! No! No_! Was all that rang repeatedly in my mind. I just could not settled in the idea of the person he had set me up with, this was not okay! It was supposed to be Eddie, or any of the others!

Didn't they know my history with him? The incident report and disciplinary action had to be in my file.

Pure panic surged through me as I looked at Eddie, not caring what he saw on my face. One huge shutter full of loathing shook my entire body as it sank in. This would force me to spend an unnecessarily large amount time with a creep like him -who knew how long.

I sensed this grim shadow luring over him these last couple of days when I was near him, especially while the three of us worked together. He had completely given me the cold shoulder, but some part of me knew he wasn't done with me, no matter how he was acting now. This tugging feeling lingered at the back of my mind that being alone with him, with no backup, would only result in me getting hurt; beyond what had happened last time.

Eddie looked at me in confusion as to why I was reacting like that. Getting to know Eddie over the past couple of days made me sure that I could count on him through desperate times, such as this one. No matter how long I had known him... Eddie was my best choice, better than the others.

Keeping eye contact with Eddie, I pointed my chin towards Reed, who was standing on the other side of the room cooperating with Badica and the rest, and mouthed, "no."

He mouthed back "Why?" But I was in no mood to go over my reasoning.

After Badica was done, we all headed for the three black vans that were awaiting us in the garage. We swiftly began to exit the room but Eddie cornered me against the hallway that lead to the garage. "What's going on?" He asked in concern, searching for answers.

"Long story," I mumbled in exhaustion at the new revelation and the three and a half tiring days. I leaned back on the wall, supporting my upper body with my shoulders and my lower with one leg as I folded back my left against the wall. I huffed out my frustration and crossed my hands over my stomach.

"Sum it up," he urged. The concern expression still etched on his forehead.

"I don't want to. Just, just be my partner...I just," I stammered as I tried to reason with him without giving too much information away. I felt like if he knew the truth, he was going to pity me. Besides, this was not the type of thing I would bluntly give out.

"...just be my partner, okay? I-I don't like him, he gives me the creeps...I like you better, I know you better," I whispered urgently so the others, he, couldn't hear me. "Ask Badica to switch partners, I'm sure he will do it, he likes you. Please." I pleaded.

He nodded his head, but was still digging for more. "You owe me an explanation." Eddie locked eyes with me making sure I knew this wasn't over and I would not get out of the explanation.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Relief washed over me at thought that I had a chance to get out of this and I gripped him in a tight hug. He staggered back in surprise, but immediately recovered, patting my back in a friendly gesture.

We headed to the garage and found Badica talking with Mikhail. Eddie went over to him while I hunched over the van, waiting in vain. Soon after Mikhail and Badica were done with their discussion, Eddie began to talk to him about what we had discussed. I watched and waited, but their body language gave nothing away of the discussion, I couldn't tell whether Badica was willing or not.

Eddie walked directly back to me. I straightened up my posture, eager to hear the decision. He shook his head, ruffling his messy hair with his hand. "I'm sorry, Rose. Badica said it would be too much of a distraction for us if we work together, that we wouldn't give our full attention to the mission. He said we will be too busy protecting each other, that we know each other too personally to group us together."

"Distraction? How? " I incoherently asked, confused by what Badica's suggested. I understood why he didn't pair up the couple, but Eddie and I were no such thing. We were just friends nothing else, no more. We were not fooling around, I never saw him like that. "We're not involved that way!"

"I don't think that's what he meant." Eddie corrected me as he worked out what I was talking about.

"Then what?!" I rasped through my clenched teeth in frustration over Badica.

"I don't know Rose, he obviously has his reasons. Unfortunately for you, whatever you say is not going to change them, so you're stuck with Reed." Eddie seemed frustrated, defeated that he couldn't help me out, but that didn't calm my nerves.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Thank you for trying anyway, I appreciate it." I lightly hugged him, reassuring him that I was grateful for his generous try. I didn't want my worries to become his, he had enough on his mind already, we all did.

"Rose, if there is something wrong here, you need to tell me. Do you suspect Reed?" Eddie's voice lowered to a hush tone. He was very worried about me.

"Well no, that's not what this is about. Its just that Reed and I..."

"Alright agents, load up now, we're moving out, the MOSD will keep a close watch over us." Badica announced interrupting what I was about to say. I sighed in frustration and marched robotically to my awaiting partner who was standing on the driver side of our black SUV.

Walking over there, I put up my locks into a ponytail "I'm driving," I declared as I looked dead into his cold eyes.

Reed raised both his hands up in defeat and moved to the right so I could have access to the car door.

"Alright," he spoke with what I assumed to be amusement.

I was too distracted with fury over being partnered with the ass to pay attention to his body language. Watching him as he went over to the other side of the car, he climbed in the passenger seat and shut the door swiftly. I climbed in as well, and followed the other two SUVs out.

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**Next chapter, The Russian God will appear. As always, review and tell me what you think, any suggestions. Are you excited for the VA movie? What do you think of Danila Kozlovsky playing as Dimitri? I wanna know your responses. It would count as an early 18th birthday present :)  
**


	5. Blindsided

_Seriously, I have the best beta in the world. I would not have made any sense if dpower was not helping me. _

_I do apologize for the late update and please read the A/N at the end. _

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**RPOV**

We arrived forty-five long minutes later into the drive and parked near some dense trees. Observing the warehouse from a block away, the faint light of dawn was glowing on the horizon. The temporary surveillance position was carefully chosen to place us where Victor's cronies wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Getting out of the car, the team quickly pulled our weapons out of the back. After arming ourselves, we grouped around to hear Badica's last instructions.

In the voice of authority, he spoke without presenting any emotions whatsoever. "You know what to do, split up and take different sections of the warehouse. Make sure you have everything you need, and take out the enemy as necessary. I have a backup team in place, if things get atrocious." Meaning if we all died in this attempt… _nice_...a bad feeling sank in the pit of my stomach as his words lingered in the air.

"If your partner gets compromised, you must move along. You cannot risk yourself in hopes of saving the other." His face deadpanned, causing that knife in my stomach twist deeper. "Good luck, stay vigilant." A tight smile expressed his apprehension for what might occur when we step foot into the war zone. With that, he gave us a firm nod and walked away. Taking one of the SUV, he departed the scene to head for the MOSD team that was monitoring us.

"OK..." I sighed trying to relieve some of the anxiety churning in my gut, "Reed and I will be Victor1; James and Mikhail, Victor2; and Eddie and Sonya, Victor3. Victor1 will take the door on the eastern perimeter. It might have a large amount of traffic, but we can take them and make our way to our main focus, Victor." I said as I strapped and secured myself with weapons.

The place was huge; we divided it up into sections, which meant that once inside, it was less likely that we would meet each other during the mission.

That situation worked both for and against us: On one hand, if we were compromised, it puts each one of us at greater risk of not making it out alive; we're on our own in there. On the other hand, the risk is lower for casualties of friendly fire, no one will be in anyone else's way. We all knew the situation we were facing and how to handle ourselves; we just had to take extra precautions.

"Given the size of the place, I doubt we will bump into each other anytime soon, so it is imperative that we keep in contact at all times." My gaze fell to the micro comm in my hand; I placed it in my right ear and checked if the sound was functioning correctly. The others followed my lead and prepared for action.

"Victor3 will be taking the main entrance and will navigate to the northern corridor. We will check for any hostages and will notify you of any progress." Sonya spoke, her expression ironically impassive, when the fact was, in only a few minutes, we would enter a war zone... where it was life or death.

"Alright, Victor2 will scan for any signs of weapons transports and will shut down the movement as quickly as possible." James arched his brows towards the warehouse. "Everyone synchronize watches, we must be swift and efficient, and this is a one shot deal. The less commotion, the more probability we will come out alive." We listened to his warnings, soundlessly agreeing with him.

Uncomfortable silence had fallen between us after his ominous words; the tension was etched in each face as I glanced at them. My comm suddenly came to life in my ear with a very sexy voice. "Ops, this is agent Zeklos of MOSD." His accent was lighter than Badica's and much, much sexier, which made it hard to focus on the important task.

I gave Sonya a knowing smirk as she tried to look unaffected by his voice. She couldn't help but look away, trying to hide the blush that now covered her pale face, from her lover. But Mikhail caught on to us and showed his disbelief by snorting at Sonya and I as we continued to marvel Zeklos' voice. A small giggle bubbled up catching Eddie's attention.

"Gotta be kidding me." Eddie sighed, shaking his head as it dawned on him what the fuss between the three of us was about. "Really?" he asked, rolling his eyes at me.

"What?!" I whisper-exclaimed with foe insult. It wasn't my fault that he had an alluring voice. To make it worse, his smooth low tone had to be right in my ear, sending goosebumps over my skin. Too bad, he wasn't whispering sweet-nothings instead.

"Surveillance shows Victor Dashkov is expecting six Gurkha military cars. There is no indication of the military cars use, but we assume they will be used to transport the heavy weaponry he has stored in the warehouse."

"Anything else." James asked totally oblivious, along with Reed and the man in our ears about the silly situation going on around us.

The sexy masculine voice spoke again. "Stan Alto and Robert Duro are still on the premises, keep an eye out for them, and bring them in if possible. We will keep you updated on new occurrences." The line went silent not a second after he finished.

"Wait, the military cars will be parked on the eastern perimeter. There will be more activity on that ally than expected. It's highly dangerous you two need cover. Victor2 should go with you." Sonya said, almost in a panic tone, speaking so fast she didn't even take a breath.

"We will be fine." Reed dismissed her concern immediately. "I will handle myself," He glared at her, acting like she was questioning his skills. "and I'm sure Rose will be a pro, too. Right?" He nodded in my direction, smirking, as if challenging my ability.

I laughed bitterly at his remark. "Of course, I'll handle myself... partner." Anger flared as my blood boiled inside of me, only Reed Lazar could push my buttons with a lame comment. Averting my attention to Sonya, I sincerely smiled at her. "Sonya, thank you, but the other areas need to be covered, too, for a smooth operation. We will be fine, really." I assured her.

Smiling at me, uncertainty crossed her pale face. "Alright..." She shook her head. "Let's get moving." Walking passed Eddie, Sonya marched to Mikhail, they shared a private moment of unspoken words. She reached up, gently caressing his cheek as her thumb stroked his lips, before pressing her mouth to his in a slow affectionate kiss. As Sonya pulled back she whispered, "Be careful, babe." I felt like we were intruding on their intimacy and wanted to look away, but yet the love shared between them had me longing for that kind of connection.

It was just wishful thinking on my part though, because this life is not conducive to happily ever after. Sonya turned away from Mikhail. She came to stand in front of me and unexpectedly hugged me. When she pulled back, her hands shifted to my upper arms and locked eyes with me. "You too," she whispered as she gripped me tightly.

"Mmmhmm," I moaned as I felt a sharp sting from the tender sight of the tracking device, but a half of a second later, the pain was gone. "Thank you, Sonya, you too." It was very sweet of her to show me such concern, but I have been on my own long enough that it's hard for me to accept such affection.

"Let's move." James nudged Mikhail to follow him, breaking up the little touchy-feely session. Swiftly, we all followed James. When it was safe to do so, we began to branch out to our own directions, leaving the vans behind us.

Reed and I arrived at the eastern perimeter. The entrance was locked digitally, requiring us to use my mini code-cracking device, I had in my pocket. Seconds later without commotion, we stepped over the threshold. "Victor1... we're in," I whispered, knowing the others would hear me through the comms.

"Victor2... copy that," James answered back through the open line.

"Victor3... copy." Sonya responded.

Reed and I didn't speak to each other much, other than to give simple direction to each other, mostly using hand signals to communicate. Moving quickly we reached the first corner. As we turned the corner, there were a half dozen of Victor's army standing around, armed to the hilt with high-end military grade weapons. It appeared that they were protecting a huge, copper-colored metal, double door behind them.

Getting through that door, meant one less obstacle to Victor and that right there, got me excited to take down the men standing in our way. Leaning against the wall, I signaled Reed to use the potent tranquilizer guns. They were silent and had six shots each. We quickly ducked behind a big shipping crate, stealthily moving closer to our unsuspecting prey. I gave Reed a signal to indicate I would be taking the three to the left and for him to take the ones on the right. He nodded in response and with three rapid shots each; we took them down without any commotion.

Reed and I maneuvered through the unconscious guards who were closely scattered on the floor. Pushing through the double door, we entered an empty, wide hallway with five doors. Back at the house, Badica had informed us to take the second exit on the left, but Reed had other plans. "Follow me." Positioning his loaded gun directly in front of him, he checked to see if anyone was behind each door. Luckily, there was none.

When Reed passed the second exit to the left and continued going down the wall, I stopped, tucking my tranq gun in its pouch. "Reed, where are you going?!" I half whispered-yelled in frustration.

Stopping, he turned around; his face had a wicked smirk that clearly showed he was up to no good. "That last exit will make our job effortless and we'll be out in no time with Victor in hand, hopefully alive." He pointed his pistol to the last doorway in the hall.

The funny thing was, I was not big on following rules of any sort, but I was pissed by his sudden plan to change how we operated. "Reed, I don't like this, there is no reason to change our route," changing even a tiny detail of a plan, was crucial at this moment. So far, things were going great. We weren't harmed or compromised, so why would we risk ourselves for another direction; a direction in which we haven't completely studied on the blueprint like the other route. Annoyed by his cocky attitude, I refused to follow him; he shouldn't have tried to change the plan without consulting me first.

Reed let out a sigh, shaking his head. He put his gun back in a pouch and started to walk slowly towards me, stopping at a reasonable distance. "She's never gives up, does she?" He mumbled to himself.

"What?" I scrunched my nose at him, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about. "Reed! Just follow the fucking rou-" Before I even finished my rant, which was dangerously loud, Reed came at me at a fast pace and made a move to knock me out with a flying fist to my chin.

Hastily dodging his punch, I slammed my right knee to his stomach and shoved him backwards, enough to knock him to the ground. Reed hit the floor, but in just a few seconds, he was on his feet, and taking his gun out of its pouch. I didn't even have enough time to think about this situation clearly, but knew that he was somehow working in favor of Victor, and all of this unraveling on me, made me very weary.

"He said to bring you alive, but he didn't say uninjured...and I won't hesitate, Hathaway." As the words left his poisonous tongue, it dawned on me how stupid I was. He..._Victor! Damn it!_

The guy showed multiple signs of being a problem, before we even got to this point...Reed was the mole. It was so freaking obvious, to me. Given the history I had with him, I should've known. I should've followed my gut and not trusted him!

"Read, think about this! This _will_ ruin you. A-and it's not just the end of your career, you will lose everything. You will be put in exile." Trying to reason with him, keeping as calm as possible, I slowly backed away from him. But that didn't help. Reed took a step forward, matching every step I took backwards. He had the upper hand, now. All he had to do is pull the trigger, to injure me.

"Shut up!" he yelled, making me flinch. At that point, the increasing pitches of our voices didn't matter. I was in the dead zone anyway, and he was the mole... in the proverbial safe zone.

Panic rushed through me, facing one of our own men who was trained as well as me, every move I made, he had the counter move. I had never been in a position like this and for the first time ever, I prayed to god that the others were listening to this through the comm. "Remove your weapons and slowly put them on the floor." He commanded.

Doing as he asked while making eye contact with him, I slowly removed my weapons. In this way, he would know that he had my full attention, but it also gave me a chance to study him. "Good, girl, take out your comm, too." He kicked all of my weapons away from my reach while his eyes stayed on me. He was good.

_Shit!_

I removed the comm and put it on the floor without saying a word to him. Reed immediately crushed the small gadget into bits. "You didn't actually think you were protected, did you?" he gave me a cocky smirk mocking my last hope. "Oh sweetheart," he tisked, "Sonya programmed your little comm to only receive transmission for about ten minutes into the mission."

"What...?" I was at a loss for words, not believing what came out of his filthy mouth, but I reminded myself that it was Sonya's job to program our comms. Uncertain at this new revelation, my heart hammered in my chest. "Sonya? You're lying! She would-"

"Never? Is that what you wanted to say?" He finished my sentence as he circled around me. "Oh, but she would. See, you don't have it figured out as well as you thought." A cold evil humorless laugh erupted from him as he whispered in my ear.

"Your naive little brain was too busy getting caught up with that sappy romantic shit she fed you." The tip of his gun shoved against my temple. "Making you think that her integrity was righteous enough, with Mikhail and all, that you forgot how to really operate." Swallowing the lump in my throat, I took in a deep breath preparing to die. "What happened, Rose? You used to be so good, you can't be losing your touch, fading already... at such a young age," he tisked in disapproval, once again.

I took in every word, frozen on the spot, horrified at the realization that I had to see from my enemy's point of view.

"Well...actually, you will _fade_ after Victor is finished with you." He laughed at the pun, stopping his circular motion and settling in behind me.

At that point, I didn't know what to feel. I should have been calculating my next move, to get out of this horrific situation, but I had nothing. Instead, I thought about my sloppy work and Sonya.

_Sonya... Was she really another mole? Was Mikhail in on it, too?_

This wasn't like me at all. I was efficient, brilliant on previous missions. So what happened to me now? Suddenly another wave of fear washed over me as so many questions flooded my brain.

_Eddie!_

Was he okay? Did Sonya give him up to Victor? If she had, that would've explained the comm silence since we set foot in the war zone. How could she do this?

Having realized there was another mole, the other mole being _Sonya_, broke me deeply. Never an emotional person, who cried for any reason, it surprised me that I tasted the saltiness of a hot tears as they landed on my parted lips. Fighting the burning eyes, I tried to hold myself in check. Tightly closing my eyes, the tears started to pour even more. I hated myself for showing weakness and I had to regain control, immediately, before something else happened.

Reed walked back in front of me. He stepped closer and began to smooth out my tears from my cheek while the gun in his right hand roughly pressed against my stomach.

_Why am I not doing anything? _Every inch of my body was paralyzed, and when I tried to lift a muscle, I felt weak

"Huh, so this is what it looks like when Rose Mazur sheds tears." That motherfucker was amused! "I must say, a lot of girls are unappealing when they cry, but Rose, you are a sight to see. So beautiful and pink flushed." I didn't flinch away as his rough hand gripped on either side of my jaw. His thumb and pointer finger aggressively pinched hard enough to tear at my skin.

A small whimper left my throat as I felt the sharp sting coming from both of my cheeks. I'd had enough... enough feeling powerless, and weak. This wasn't me!

Reed ignored my protest as I tried to pull away and he leaned in. His proximity was close enough that our lips would've met if he moved another inch. "So beautiful..." He whispered more to himself. A sick feeling rolled in my stomach. How dare this sick twisted bastard try to take advantage of me, again. Not giving a damn any longer about the outcome, I pulled my head back and spat in his eyes.

"You disgust me, you freak!" I growled through gritted teeth, all tears now dried.

"You bitch!" he spat back and hit me hard on my left cheek with the back of his gun. The force was enough to knock me to the ground.

Straddling me, Reed was about to strike me with his hand for a second round. But if I was going to die, it would be in a fight. Before he struck me, I moved my head so his hand would hit the hard cement. He growled in pain and pulled his hand back cradling it, giving me a split-second to fight back.

For whatever reason, weakness consumed me, I didn't even have the strength to push him off me, so instead, I leaned forward and bit his ear. I didn't care about how disgusting it was as blood oozed from the bitten parts to my mouth, I just did it again and again until he screamed in excruciating pain, scrambling away from me to protect his bloody ear.

Spitting the nasty blood out of my mouth onto the floor, I still tasted the vile liquid and had some in my mouth. Dizzily, I scurried off the floor. Lunging at him, I straddled his waist, and punched him repeatedly. Reeds head fell back and I knocked him good, right on his throat. Coughing and gagging he struggled against me, but it was weak enough that he could no longer come at me. Successfully prying the gun out of his hand, I stood up and aimed it at his heart.

I hated him so much. In my heart and soul, the loath engulfed me; it pushed me over the edge. It made me want to give him a slow, painful, agonizing death. I wanted him to suffer, for my eyes to be the last ones he saw, but I didn't have all the time in the world to enjoy that. I had to get out of there my survival depended on it.

So, lucky for the bastard, he would not see my eyes. But he would die slowly, I would shoot him at an angle that would cause internal bleeding, that Victor would not have the time to save him. Then again, Reed was no longer of use to Victor if he didn't execute and complete his instructions he was expendable.

Lowering the gun to his stomach, I aimed. My vision was getting cloudy; it seemed like every minute that passed by, my body was slowly shutting down. I didn't care, as long as Reed suffered.

Gripping the gun with both of my hands firmly, I pulled the trigger, but it didn't land where I expected. Instead, the bullet pierced through his thigh. Reed moaned half-conscious, adjacent to me on the floor. I realized, I had been knocked down, again. But this time, it wasn't Reed, and my effort to stand up was of no use, because more than two people straddled my back. Victor's recruits... Reed must have tipped them off.

The people were taking fast; some in English and some in Russian. But no matter what they said, I couldn't comprehend, or process anything. It was just mumbo-jumbo to me and it all made my head spin, making my eyelids heavier and heavier until I could not keep them open any longer.

My body finally gave out on me.

【DE】

Bright, harsh lights glared above me as I slowly opened my eyes, immediately giving me black spots as I squeezed them closed and reopened them again. I tried to move around, to get away from the glaring lights, but I soon found out I was cuffed from my wrists to my ankles onto a cold platform beneath me.

Vaguely, I heard light footsteps coming towards me and stop. Attempting to see who was looking down me, I squinted and looked up, but the high beamed lights blinded me. "Ugh." I moaned, involuntarily closing my eyes until I felt the lights turn off and the presence of someone at my side.

Reopening my eyes, I blinked rapidly a few times to adjust my vision. Hovering over me was a tall, black bearded man with long straggly salt and pepper hair. His mad green eyes gazed down at me, his reaction unreadable.

It was the one and only, Victor Dashkov.

I should have panicked, feared for my life, but I thought, if he wanted me dead, he would have done it a long time ago.

* * *

_So I know I said Dimitri will be on this chapter but much has happened. There is a lot of things that needs to be explained before he appears, so bare with me, this is a slow burn. There will be a Sonya POV next chapter, then we will see Dimitri. _


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